How to Run Your Quarterly State of the Company Meeting in Ninety
A State of the Company Meeting is where your leadership team shares the plan with everyone in your organization. Hold one every quarter, after your Quarterly Session or Annual Planning Session, and plan 60–90 minutes to allow time for questions.
In Ninety, you can run the meeting from a custom agenda and give everyone free, view-only access to your key numbers, Rocks (your 90-day priorities), and Vision/Traction Organizer® (V/TO®) through an all-company team of Observers.
These steps are for leadership teams and the person who runs the meeting, usually the Visionary or the Integrator™. Building a custom agenda from scratch requires the Accelerate, Thrive, or Legacy plan.
Video: running your State of the Company Meeting
Watch the video below to see a State of the Company Meeting planned and run in Ninety.
The video covers:
Why it happens every quarter. The meeting creates clarity and alignment on last quarter's results and next quarter's plan, and builds momentum for the work ahead.
A suggested agenda. Wins, company performance, the vision, company Rocks, and time for questions, in 60–90 minutes.
An all-company team. Inviting everyone as a free Observer and sharing key Measurables, company Rocks, The Accountability Chart®, and the V/TO with that team.
Questions as Issues. Capturing Q&A in the team's Issues list so you keep a record over time.
What a State of the Company Meeting is for
A State of the Company Meeting gives everyone in your organization the same picture of where the company has been, where it is now, and where it's going. After each planning session, your leadership team knows the plan. This meeting makes sure the rest of the company does too, so every team starts the quarter aligned on the same priorities.
Hold it within two weeks of your planning session, while the plan is fresh. For why the meeting matters, read Ninety's blog Why the State of the Company Is the Most Important 90 Minutes of Your Quarter.
If you're rolling EOS® out to your whole organization for the first time, your first State of the Company Meeting introduces EOS itself and runs shorter. For that version, read Step 3 of the company-wide rollout guide.
A suggested State of the Company agenda
A quarterly State of the Company Meeting usually runs 60–90 minutes. The order and timing are flexible, so adjust them to what your company needs. Here's a suggested agenda:
Objective and agenda. Share what everyone should get out of the meeting.
Celebrate wins. Recognize the big Rocks your teams completed and give Core Value shout-outs to people who lived your Core Values.
Company performance. Review last quarter's key numbers and how the company did against its goals.
Revisit the vision. Walk through your Core Values, Core Focus™, 10-Year Target™, and the Traction page with your 1-year goals.
Company Rocks. Share the company Rocks for the coming quarter. Add department Rocks if they help your teams see how their work connects.
Q&A. Leave time for questions from anyone in the company.
Wrap-up. Close with what comes next and how each team supports the plan.
Setting up an all-company team
An all-company team lets everyone in your organization see the plan in Ninety during meetings and between meetings. Observers have free, view-only access, so adding everyone as an Observer doesn't use paid licenses. To set up the team:
Create a team for the whole company and give it a clear title, such as "Full Company." Owners, Admins, Managers, and Implementers can create teams. For the steps, read Creating New Teams.
Add everyone outside the leadership team to the Full Company team with the Observer role. Invite new people as Observers, or change an existing user's role to Observer. Owners, Admins, and Implementers can change a user's role.
Add the person who runs the meeting to the Full Company team with a licensed role, so they can add Issues during Q&A.
If the Full Company team shouldn't have its own V/TO, turn it into a project team from Company Settings > Teams. Project teams can't create their own V/TO.
Note: Observers can view and join meetings, but they can't create, edit, or own items, and they can't use Ninety's mobile app. For everything Observers can see, read Ninety's Observer Role Explained.
Sharing numbers, Rocks, and the V/TO® with the Full Company team
Observers see the items on the teams they belong to, plus anything the leadership team shares. Share these items with the Full Company team so everyone can follow the plan all quarter:
Key Measurables. On the Full Company team's Scorecard (your weekly metrics dashboard), use Add Existing Measurable to add the leadership team's key numbers. Each one is a shared instance, so the numbers update everywhere and there's nothing extra to keep current. For the steps, read Creating and Updating Measurables.
Company Rocks. Share each company Rock with the Full Company team. Any Owner, Admin, Manager, Implementer, or Team Member on a paid plan can share a Rock. For the steps, read Sharing Rocks Across Multiple Teams.
The Accountability Chart. Observers can view your organization's structure, Seats, and roles.
For the V/TO, choose how much of the leadership team's V/TO the Full Company team sees:
Cascade sections. Cascaded sections, such as Core Values, appear on every team's V/TO and stay identical across the organization.
Share the full V/TO. Turn on Share V/TO with All Teams on the leadership team's V/TO. Every team can then open it with View Leadership V/TO, including the 3-Year Picture™, Marketing Strategy, and the Traction page. Owners, Admins, Implementers, and Managers see this toggle.
No V/TO. Make the Full Company team a project team so it has no V/TO of its own.
For the V/TO settings, read Display the Organization's Vision across All Teams.
Running the State of the Company Meeting in Ninety
Running the meeting from Ninety keeps everything you present in the same place your teams work, and keeps a record of each quarter's meeting. Owners, Admins, Managers, and Implementers can create custom agendas. To set up the agenda:
Click Meetings from the left navigation.
Click the Agendas tab.
Choose the "Full Company" team from the Team dropdown.
Click + Create Agenda at the bottom of the agendas list.
Enter a title for the agenda, such as "State of the Company."
Add a section for each part of your agenda. Use tool sections for the Scorecard, Rocks, and Issues, and custom sections for everything else.
Adjust the duration of each section.
Click Create Agenda.
When it's time for the meeting, start it from the Full Company team's Meetings page and choose the State of the Company agenda. During Q&A, the person running the meeting adds each question as an Issue on the Full Company team's Issues list, so you have a record of what people asked each quarter. For more on agendas, read Create and Customize Your Meeting Agendas.
Troubleshooting
Issue: An Observer on the Full Company team can't see the leadership team's V/TO.
Solution: The leadership team's V/TO isn't shared or cascaded yet.
Open the leadership team's V/TO.
Turn on Share V/TO with All Teams, or cascade the sections you want every team to see.
Ask the Observer to open the Full Company team's V/TO and turn on View Leadership V/TO.
Issue: A company Rock doesn't appear on the Full Company team.
Solution: The Rock is shared only with the leadership team.
Open the Rock's details.
Share it with the Full Company team.
Refresh the Full Company team's Rocks page.
Issue: A key number isn't on the Full Company team's Scorecard.
Solution: The Measurable hasn't been added to the Full Company team yet.
Open the Full Company team's Scorecard.
Click New Measurable on a group's card and select Add Existing Measurable.
Search for the Measurable, check its box, and click Add.
If the issue persists, contact support.
Frequently asked questions
Are Observers free?
Yes. Observers have free, view-only access and don't use paid licenses, so you can add everyone in your company to the Full Company team as an Observer.
Can Observers ask questions or add Issues?
Observers can ask questions during the meeting, but they can't create Issues. The person running the meeting adds each question to the Full Company team's Issues list.
Can Observers see the State of the Company content on the mobile app?
No. Observers can't use Ninety's mobile app. They can view the Full Company team's V/TO, Scorecard, Rocks, and Accountability Chart in Ninety's web app.
How long should a State of the Company Meeting be?
A quarterly State of the Company Meeting usually runs 60–90 minutes, which leaves time for questions. The first one during an EOS rollout is shorter and introduces EOS to the company.